A fiery elven wizard, fascinated by magical research and applying the results. She seeks to protect the innocent and increase her power and knowledge by the acquisition of magical devices and ancient rituals.

Banelin

A red haired dwarf warrior with an impressive beard. He served in the army in his youth and gained a fearsome reputation for slaying goblins. He served with Saslic at the end of the wars and took a liking to the young mage. Since then he has been travelling with her and stopping her more impulsive moments from becoming terminal mistakes.

Mage Hand
Create a hand of magical force within 50 ft of you. It can be controlled as an action. It can lift up to 10 pounds, can move 30 ft in a round, but not go higher than 5 ft off the ground or attack.

Sleep
20 ft radius sphere within 100 ft. Targets get drowsy and move at 1/2 speed until taking damage.
Tagets with less than 10 hit points must make a Wisdom saving throw or fall u
nconscious. Damage or a shake will wake them.

Elves do not need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

When you cast an arcane spell that causes damage in an area of effect, you can pick a number of creatures in the area up to the spell’s level + 1. Those creatures take no damage from the spell when you cast it, but they are not protected from any of the spell’s other effects, including damage dealt by the spell later.

Upon casting detect magic, you immediately perceive an aura around any objects, areas, or creatures affected or created by magic. Studying the auras can give you clues to the nature of the magic. Effect: You detect the presence of any magic in a 30-*-foot cone originating from you for 1 minute. You can ignore the presence of magic that you are already aware of. If the magic you sense belongs to a school of magic, you learn what that school is. This spell does not reveal invisible creatures or magic that conceals spells, objects, or creatures. On each of your turns, you can turn to detect magic in a new area as part of your movement. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.

You cause an object you touch to shine with light for a time. Effect: You touch an object. It sheds bright light in a 20 foot radius sphere and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light may be colored as you choose. The light lasts for 1 hour or until you cast this spell again. Covering the object with a solid object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the glow.

The spectral hand you create with this spell can manipulate objects, open doors, and carry small items for you. Many wizards use mage hand to retrieve components from their pouches while keeping their hands free. Effect: A spectral, floating hand appears at a point you choose within 50 feet of you. The hand lasts for 1 minute or until you cast this spell again. The hand vanishes if it is ever more than 50 feet away from you. While the hand is present, you can control it as an action. You can use the hand to manipulate an object, open a door or a container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents from a vial. You can move the hand up to 30 feet each time you use it. The hand cannot attack, use magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds.

As you hold your hands with your thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flames shoots forth from your outstretched fingertips. Effect: Each creature in a 15 foot cone originating from you must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 1d6 fire damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The fire ignites unattended flammable objects in the area.

You fire a pale beam of blue-white energy that chills your enemy to the bone. Effect: Make a magic attack against one creature within 100 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 + 3 cold damage, and its speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of your next turn.

Lightning wreathes your hand and delivers a brutal shock to the creature you touch. Effect: Make a magic attack to touch a creature of your choice. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + 4 lightning damage and can’t take reactions until its next turn.

A spell famous for its reliability, magic missile produces one or more darts of magical force that unerringly strike their target. Those who have been struck by this spell and survived describe a piercing pain that seems to pass through the body and out the other side. This spell leaves its victims bruised and can even break bones. Many spellcasters alter the appearance of this spell when they cast it. A necromancer’s magic missile might take the form of a skeletal hand, while a war wizard might create a glimmering, ghostly lance. Effect: Choose a creature within 100 feet of you. The target takes 2d4 + 5 force damage. Special: You can prepare and cast magic missile as a higher level spell. You produce a number of darts equal to the level at which you cast it. You can target different creatures with the darts or send more than one dart against a single creature.

The fine sand you fling into the air sparkles when this spell’s magic takes hold. Creatures touched by the scintillating granules grow drowsy and might fall asleep. Effect: Choose a point that you can see within 100 feet of you, roll 3d8, and add them up. The total is how many hit points of creatures this spell can affect within 20 feet of the point you chose. Starting with the creature that has the lowest current hit points, each creature affected by this spell falls unconscious for 1 minute or until it takes damage or someone uses an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake. Subtract each creature’s hit points from the total before moving on to the creature with the next lowest hit points. A creature’s hit points must be no more than the remaining total for that creature to be affected.

Discovering a magic item’s effects is usually possible through trial and error. But to precisely catalog every facet of its lore and ability requires an academic approach refined by years of spellcraft. You incant the magical phrases of revelation as you brush your fingers across an item, drawing up any magic that might be hidden within it. Upon casting identify, you discover the properties and pertinent lore of a magic item. Effect: You learn the properties of a magic item you touch. If the item has any special lore associated with it, you learn that as well. This spell reveals if an item has a secret, though not the nature of the secret. Ritual: You can cast this spell as a ritual by spending at least 10 minutes intoning hierarchal questions to spirits of knowledge and lore, and scribing marks upon the object to be identified with special chalks worth no less than 10 gp.

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you always know where and from whom you can obtain that information. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature.

All your Hit Dice increase by one step: from d4 to d6, d6 to d8, d8 to d10, d10 to d12, and d12 to 2d6. At 1st level, you gain 1 extra hit point. Whenever you gain a level, you similarly increase the die rolled to determine how many hit points you gain (or simply gain 1 extra hit point per level).

Even when you miss with an attack, you can manipulate your weapon to deliver a glancing blow. Effect: When you miss a target with a melee weapon attack but your attack result is a 10 or higher, you can spend expertise dice to turn the miss into a glancing blow, which is not treated as a hit. Roll all the expertise dice you spend. The target takes damage equal to the highest die result alone. The damage is of the weapon’s type, but it delivers no additional effect associated with the weapon or the attack.

When you drop an enemy with a melee attack, you let your momentum carry you forward to strike again. Effect: When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points or fewer with a melee weapon attack, you can spend expertise dice to make an extra attack. Using the same weapon, make an attack against a creature of your choice within your reach. On a hit, roll the expertise dice in place of the weapon’s damage dice.

You find where your opponent is most vulnerable and strike there. Effect: When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can spend expertise dice to increase the attack’s damage against that target. Roll all the expertise dice you spend, and add up their results. The damage gains a bonus equal to that
total.

You have a military rank from your career as a soldier (the exact nature of your rank is determined at the time you select this background). Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and influence, and they will defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and requisition simple equipment, horses and vehicles for temporary use. You can also usually gain access to friendly military encampments and fortresses where your rank is recognized.

Elves do not need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

When you cast an arcane spell that causes damage in an area of effect, you can pick a number of creatures in the area up to the spell’s level + 1. Those creatures take no damage from the spell when you cast it, but they are not protected from any of the spell’s other effects, including damage dealt by the spell later.

Spellcasters are often jealous of their lore. To guard their arcane secrets, they might use secret alphabets and cyphers to record their spells. Magical writing also sometimes adorns enchanted objects, magic weapons, the sides of ancient towers, and so on, though the authors of these passages are usually lost to history. When you cast this spell, incomprehensible magical symbols waver, change position, then suddenly become clear, allowing you to peruse the magical writing with ease. Effect: Choose an object within 10 feet of you. You can decipher a discrete magical inscription on that object that would otherwise be unintelligible, including a spell from someone else’s spellbook, a spell on a scroll, a line of mystical script on a magic weapon, and the like. This does not normally invoke the magic contained in the writing, although it might do so in the case of a cursed scroll. Once a particular magical inscription is deciphered by means of this spell, the inscription continues to be intelligible to you. You can also identify the names of specific magic glyphs and symbols using read magic, though not their function.

You cause an object you touch to shine with light for a time.Effect: You touch an object. It sheds bright light in a 20 foot radius sphere and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light may be colored as you choose. The light lasts for 1 hour or until you cast this spell again. Covering the object with a solid object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the glow.

You fire a pale beam of blue-white energy that chills your enemy to the bone.Effect: Make a magic attack against one creature within 100 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 cold damage, and its speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of your next turn.Special: If your caster level is 7th or higher, the damage is 2d10. If your caster level is 11th or higher, the damage is 3d10. If your caster level is 16th or higher, the damage is 4d10.

Lightning wreathes your hand and delivers a brutal shock to the creature you touch.Effect: Make a magic attack to touch a creature of your choice. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 lightning damage and can’t take reactions until its next turn.Special: If your caster level is 7th or higher, the damage is 2d10. If your caster level is 11th or higher, the damage is 3d10. If your caster level is 16th or higher, the damage is 4d10.

A spell famous for its reliability, magic missile produces one or more darts of magical force that unerringly strike their target. Those who have been struck by this spell and survived describe a piercing pain that seems to pass through the body and out the other side. This spell leaves its victims bruised and can even break bones. Many spellcasters alter the appearance of this spell when they cast it. A necromancer’s magic missile might take the form of a skeletal hand, while a war wizard might create a glimmering, ghostly lance. Effect: You create two darts of magical force. For each dart, choose a creature within 100 feet of you. The target takes 1d4 + 2 force damage.Special: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of a level higher than 1st, the spell creates two more darts for each level above 1st.

Discovering a magic item’s effects is usually possible through trial and error. But to precisely catalog every facet of its lore and ability requires an academic approach refined by years of spellcraft. You incant the magical phrases of revelation as you brush your fingers across an item, drawing up any magic that might be hidden within it. Upon casting identify, you discover the properties and pertinent lore of a magic item. Effect: You learn the properties of a magic item you touch. If the item has any special lore associated with it, you learn that as well. This spell reveals if an item has a secret, though not the nature of the secret. Ritual: You can cast this spell as a ritual by spending at least 10 minutes intoning hierarchal questions to spirits of knowledge and lore, and scribing marks upon the object to be identified with special chalks worth no less than 10 gp.

The fine sand you fling into the air sparkles when this spell’s magic takes hold. Creatures touched by the scintillating granules grow drowsy and might fall asleep. Effect: Choose a point that you can see within 100 feet of you, roll 3d8, and add them up. The total is how many hit points of creatures this spell can affect within 20 feet of the point you chose. Starting with the creature that has the lowest current hit points, each creature affected by this spell falls unconscious for 1 minute or until it takes damage or someone uses an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake. Subtract each creature’s hit points from the total before moving on to the creature with the next lowest hit points. A creature’s hit points must be no more than the remaining total for that creature to be affected.Special: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of a level higher than 1st, roll an additional d8 for each level above 1st to determine which creatures fall asleep.

As you hold your hands with your thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flames shoots forth from your outstretched fingertips.Effect: Each creature in a 15 foot cone originating from you must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d6 fire damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The fire ignites unattended flammable objects in the area.Special: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of a level higher than 1st, the damage increases by 1d6 for each level above 1st.

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you always know where and from whom you can obtain that information. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature.

You have learned how to cast touch spells at a distance. Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell Benefit: Once per day when you cast a spell that normally requires you to touch a target, you can instead choose a target within 30 feet of you.

All your Hit Dice increase by one step: from d4 to d6, d6 to d8, d8 to d10, d10 to d12, and d12 to 2d6. At 1st level, you gain 1 extra hit point. Whenever you gain a level, you similarly increase the die rolled to determine how many hit points you gain (or simply gain 1 extra hit point per level).

Even when you miss with an attack, you can manipulate your weapon to deliver a glancing blow. Effect: When you miss a target with a melee weapon attack but your attack result is a 10 or higher, you can spend expertise dice to turn the miss into a glancing blow, which is not treated as a hit. Roll all the expertise dice you spend. The target takes damage equal to the highest die result alone. The damage is of the weapon’s type, but it delivers no additional effect associated with the weapon or the attack.

When you drop an enemy with a melee attack, you let your momentum carry you forward to strike again. Effect: When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points or fewer with a melee weapon attack, you can spend expertise dice to make an extra attack. Using the same weapon, make an attack against a creature of your choice within your reach. On a hit, roll the expertise dice in place of the weapon’s damage dice.

You find where your opponent is most vulnerable and strike there. Effect: When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can spend expertise dice to increase the attack’s damage against that target. Roll all the expertise dice you spend, and add up their results. The damage gains a bonus equal to that
total.

You have a military rank from your career as a soldier (the exact nature of your rank is determined at the time you select this background). Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and influence, and they will defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and requisition simple equipment, horses and vehicles for temporary use. You can also usually gain access to friendly military encampments and fortresses where your rank is recognized.